Michael Blake brought a young side of to Lisbon where he paired Alexander Butler, Michael Pender and David Simpson with veteran Dermott Lennon.

In what was a high scoring event, Pender jumped two good fours on Can Ya Makan while Simpson produced a wonderfully polished first round clear on Keoki and had just one down with a single time fault in the second.

Alexander Butler had the discard in both rounds while Dermott Lennon jumped a four and an eight. Ireland finished on a total of 25 in joint fourth with the home team Portugal.

The winning Belgians, who are seeking promotion to Division I had 17 penalties to spare over second placed Spain.

In the individual events, Michael Pender had a win, a third and seventh in speed events with Laith by Lord Z. Alexander Butler bounced back from a disappointing Cup outing with Hallowberry Cruz by Cruising out of a Clover Hill dam.

They had one of nine first round clears in Sunday’s Grand Prix but did not place. It was won by Harold Boisset of France on Quolita Z by Quasimodo.